Well yesterday was odd. After a year and a quarter sitting because I inexplicably could not get it to start after hours of diagnosis across several days, I dropped a battery back in it and it fired right up.

For those of you that remember, I tried everything. I replaced the throttle body to see if the sensor was bad, replaced the MAF, replaced the IAC valve, replaced the fuel pump, replaced the ECU/BCU/Gauge Cluster. Confirmed spark, tried ether down it's throat, everything. No luck. Luckily I had my truck to pull parts from and didn't dump a bunch of money into those parts. My best guess is that the old battery, even though it would crank and crank, was just a hair too weak for the electronics to work right. I'm dumbfounded.

Well as soon as I'd run it down the street and started it multiple times, I threw a farm use tag and some minimum liability insurance on it and drove it 20 minutes to my parents house and 20 minutes back. I'm about to go see if it will start this morning since it's cooled off again, but it looks like it's back on the road! Couldn't be happier. Now we can sell the wife's Tahoe and we can get back in this beast.

 

I'm always terrified in situations like that where I haven't been able to definitively identify the cause of a problem, because I'm convinced that it will show up again at the worst possible moment -- and always as soon as I have no other means of transport.

 

Yep, and no way I would give up a Tahoe as a daily driver for a D2.
A Tahoe is dependable, with a great reputation(and I'm a Ford and Toyota guy).
To me a D2 is an offroad toy and extra vehicle.
I have read and personally seen too much to depend on a D2 daily.

 

I agree, the Tahoe is more dependable. We have another spare vehicle, though, if something were to arise again. Definitely would not depend on it as the sole means of transportation.

 

Gave it 6qts of new oil 5w40 (in NY) and a K&N HP3001 filter... and a rhino tire cover. 79000 miles. 01 beauty.

 

Disco acted like it wouldn't start, so I put the jump box on the battery and fired her up. That put me in LimpHome mode.

Noticed that the 3 year old battery only had 600 cranking amps. Upgraded to 850. No more Limp Home mode!

 

I had a similar problem years ago that turned out to be the fusebox inside the truck. I had a good battery, but for some reason going through the fusebox the voltage would drop to the ignition system and I'd have spark, but too weak to fire. I replaced the fusebox and all was good. Just in case you disco starts acting up again, something to check . . .

 

Awesome to know, thank you for the tip.

 

Been doing some work getting the old girl back up to speed today. New (to us) tires, probably half tread. They're 275/65r18 which is a 32.1" tire. No lift, no trimming. It would probably scrub off road, but no scrubbing anywhere I've been today. I'll lift it before long, but in the mean time I'm not worried about it.

Also new wiper blades, took it through the drive thru car wash, and did a little clear coat repair. Chipped what I could with my fingernail, wet sanded with 2000 grit, dried, and sprayed some clear back over where it had peeled. Not a perfect repair, but it looks better than it did and it'll slow progression. This summer I'll wet sand, polish, and wax the whole thing.

I've put almost 100 miles on it now since it's been running again with no trouble. Should get it titled Monday or Tuesday and the wife will be driving it again full time.

Oh, almost forgot, swapping the tires did indeed take care of the bad shake at speed. The old ones must've been out of round. Rides down the interstate like it's glass, now.

 

Still port matching.
1 cylinder head(intake And exhaust side), and 1 exhaust manifold done.
I need to order more dremel bits, as I'm going to run out before I finish the other side.